Brooksville council approves specimen-tree removals for West Bay development after debate over mitigation

The Brooksville City Council voted 4-0 on March 16 to approve TR200603, a quasi-judicial request by Landmark Engineering and Homes by West Bay to remove specimen trees needed for phase 1 mass grading and construction of stormwater ponds for a multi-phase residential development.

Councilmember Howell and staff said the council’s approval was conditioned on negotiated tree-mitigation terms and the staff-recommended protections for trees to be preserved. City staff required a licensed landscape architect to design and oversee tree-root protection, that replacement trees be at least 3 inches DBH at planting, and that any trees slated to survive but that die within five years be replaced by the property owner.

The application’s engineering representative, Todd Hammitt of Landmark Engineering, told the council the revised exhibit included topography and highlighted several large trees to be saved; he estimated the work for phase 1 would involve roughly 100 regulated live oaks (18 inches DBH and larger) being removed over the life of the project and said the team had surveyed more than 5,000 upland trees across all phases. Hammitt said the “mass grading” authorization requested for phase 1 is intended to allow excavation of stormwater ponds needed for flood compensation and drainage control.

Council members pressed the applicant on buffers, berms, drainage to neighboring properties and the proposed mitigation. The applicant proposed planting 1,430 replacement trees across common areas and road corridors rather than locating all replacements on individual lots; council members questioned whether that figure and the attendant mitigation calculation (discussed in the packet as about $800,100) matched the actual caliper-inch math. “I would like to at least see that cut in half,” Councilmember Howell said of the replacement-tree count, urging part of the mitigation money be available to the city’s mitigation fund.

Neighbor Mike Walker, who identified himself as living on Tankersley Road, told the council he appreciated confirmation that drainage would continue to his property but urged the city and developer to plant larger-caliper trees rather than many small saplings so residents can enjoy mature canopy sooner. “Maybe consider larger caliper trees, please,” Walker said.

The developer’s builder representative, Matt Suggs of Homes by West Bay, said the planting plan is intended to enhance the community entrance and interior amenity areas and that distributing trees across common areas rather than paying the mitigation fund was the team’s objective.

After the discussion, Councilmember Howell moved to approve TR200603, with negotiation on the tree-mitigation approach limited to the current phase and incorporation of staff’s tree-protection and replacement conditions; the motion was seconded and passed 4-0. The approval applies to the phase 1 scope before council; future phases and related tree impacts must return to council for review.

What happens next: staff and the applicant will finalize the tree-mitigation details and the construction plan must incorporate the tree-root protection and replacement obligations required by the city’s land-development code and the council’s motion.